A simple twist of fate?

AREDAY is coming and the guest speakers include Ted Turner, who I had the great opportunity to meet again last year and asked him if he remembered me. Back in the late ’80s one day, during a trip down the coast on Highway 1 at Molero Beach, Big Sur, Calif., I saw a couple walking along the shoulder of the road. Getting closer, I recognized them to be Ted Turner and Jane Fonda. Ted was sticking his thumb out, trying to hitch a ride.

Pulling my VW van over onto the shoulder, I offered them a ride. They accepted, and Jane got in the back and Ted in the front.

Immediately he asked me if I knew who he was. In response, I looked at him and asked if he knew who I was, then told him I was the Peace Clown. Looking in the rearview mirror, I could see that Jane was sitting next to my clown hat, the one with “PEACE” on the brim, the same hat worn in 1986 during the Peace March across the United States.

Ted explained to me that he and Jane were in a hurry to reach their home in Pfeiffer Beach. Larry King was going to interview Ronald Reagan, and Ted and Jane wanted to get to the house in time to catch the interview.

This was actually the second time I had met Jane. The first time was in San Francisco, on Union Street, at the premiere of the movie “Temptation.”

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On that occasion I had introduced myself and we had spoken briefly. And now, here she was in the back seat of my van, riding with me, a Vietnam veteran. This seemed so ironic. I had often given thought to the possibility of staging some sort of event with Jane, in order to heal the rift between her an the veterans of Vietnam.

Another irony: Here I was, just like in Vietnam rescuing wounded soldiers, what a synchronistic moment now these two very famous, successful, wealthy people from the side of the road. Jane and Ted: perfect role models for capitalism, yet both fascinated with leftist revolutionaries.

There was even a photo taken of Ted with Fidel Castro, who had rescued Cuba from American capitalism; and one of Jane with Ho Chi Minh, who had rescued South Vietnam from American capitalism. Had I been duped into my role in this picture show? What is my lesson here? Could this be a coincidence, or is my destiny to find out that I am on the wrong side of the wall?